at one of his final public appearances, benedict asked for prayers for himself and his successor. he then entered a week long retreat amid wide speculation that the papal conclave might begin before march 15th, giving the cardinals more time to select the next pope before holy week. meanwhile, some american catholics are demanding cardinal roger mahony not attend the conclave because of his role in the clergy sex abuse crisis. recently released documents show the former archbishop of los angeles covered up abuse by priests. also, this week, the president of the u.s. conference of catholic bishops, cardinal timothy dolan of new york was formally questioned by lawyers for sex abuse victims. the deposition centered on dolan's handling of abuse while he oversaw the milwaukee archdiocese. >>> as president obama this week urged congress to prevent massive federal spending cuts from going into effect march 1st, many religious groups argued the so-called sequester would disproportionately impact low-income americans. although social security, medicare and some anti-poverty programs are pr